Local makes transparent masks to
help the hard-of-hearing lip-read
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A Greenpoint woman has
started making transparent
face masks to help the hard
of hearing who rely on reading
lips obscured by more traditional
face coverings amid
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Somebody who can’t hear
well, a big part of life is reading
lips,” said Stephanie Samperi
González.
The creative mask-maker
was inspired by her brotherin
law, who wears a hearing
aid and has used lip-reading
his whole life — until Brooklynites
started donning face
coverings to stem the spread
of the virus, and he began
having diffi culty knowing
what people were saying.
“He gets through life perfectly,
and all of a sudden after
his whole life this new
COURIER L 16 IFE, JUNE 5-11, 2020
struggle happens because
he can’t read lips,” Samperi-
González said.
The mother-of-three and
her husband have been producing
personal protective
equipment out of their home
since the viral outbreak hit
the city in March — with her
sewing the masks and her
husband making face shields
using a 3D printer he built
years ago.
The pair then donates the
masks to Maimonides Medical
Center and the donation
program NYC Makes PPE,
which has helped construct
and deliver nearly 50,000
masks, gloves, and other medical
equipment.
Samperi-González heard
about people making clear
masks for the hearing-impaired
on the internet, so the
resourceful seamstress ordered
plastic by the yard and
began making the nifty coverings
— which feature a transparent
window-like piece over
the mouth.
Some companies offer professionally
made masks with
windows, but inventive people
in other states and countries
have started making
their own from home.
The plastic Samperi-
González uses is a thin clear
vinyl and she ensures to still
make the surrounding part
out of regular cotton, and
makes the masks in a way so
they stick out from the face
making them still breathable.
She’s given several to her
in-law, who can then provide
them to the people he most often
interacts with.
The do-gooder also offered
her masks on social media in
a north Brooklyn Facebook
group for neighbors free of
charge.
Beyond the masks helping
people who need to read lips,
they also allow folks to see facial
expressions again in the
age of the “smize,” and she’s
already gotten a request from
a daycare center, because the
workers there wanted to allow
the kids to see people’s
smiles.
“It’s so strange these days,
walking around and you can’t
even see someone’s smile on
the face,” she said.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The Brooklyn Historical
Society is asking Brooklynites
to submit materials
related to the COVID-19 pandemic,
which the archivists
hope will provide a snapshot
into the tumultuous era of
the viral outbreak in the borough.
“We wanted to do this project
to collect these materials
that are new and unusual, but
also just these everyday items
now, to document the tremendous
impact of COVID-19 on
our daily life in Brooklyn,”
said Maggie Schreiner, the
society’s manager of archives
and special collections.
The COVID-19 Project
launched at the end of April
when the history buffs asked
Kings Countians to send in
photos, videos, recordings, or
writings related to the coronavirus
outbreak that capture
life during the pandemic
— and they’ve since received
almost 300 submissions,
Schreiner said.
The objects so far include
photos of life during the pandemic,
such as people wearing
masks, children learning
remotely, do-it-yourself haircuts,
and a passover meal held
via the teleconferencing app
Zoom.
There have also been
plenty of written documents,
including refl ections and poetry,
Schreiner said.
So far they’re only soliciting
objects digitally, due to
the pandemic, but they plan
to also accept physical objects
and eventually oral history interviews,
according to the archivist.
People can also send a picture
of the objects they would
like to add to the collection by
email, and the materials might
make it into the society’s permanent
collection and future
exhibits, Schreiner said.
They hope to be able to
show what it was like both
for people who quarantined at
home and the many essential
workers who still had to venture
out to their jobs risking
their lives daily, she said.
“This will allow future
Brooklynites and researchers
to understand what the daily
reality of living during this
pandemic was like,” Schreider
said.
The organization has done
similar calls for artifacts during
recent historical events
like Hurricane Sandy and the
2016 presidential election.
A longer list of possible
submissions — digital or physical
— from BHS’s website includes:
Artifacts
Artistic refl ections (e.g.
rainbow artwork)
Business and restaurant
signage about closures, fundraising
initiatives, social
distancing measures, and
amended menus
Government issued posters,
reports, and decrees concerning
public health and
safety
Grocery store lists and receipts
Housing-related material,
such as rent abatements,
strikes and eviction notices
Local and mutual aid organizations’
fl yers, newsletters,
mass mailings, records, and
reports
Lesson plans and other
educational material related
to remote learning and homeschooling
Personal correspondence
and journals
Photographs of closed businesses,
hospitals and temporary
medical facilities, social
distancing, homeschooling,
and religious activity
Video and audio diaries,
journal entries, and refl ections
Those wishing to make a
submission, can do so either
via the BHS’s online form, or by
emailing library@brooklynhistory.
org. For more information,
visit www.brooklynhistory.org/
covid-19-project.
Clear vision
Brooklyn Historical Society solicits
COVID-19 material for new archive
BROOKLYN
The time of corona
SMILES UNCOVERED: Stephanie Samperi-González started making the
clear masks inspired by one of her hearing-impaired family members.
Photo by Stephanie Samperi-González
SIGN OF THE TIMES: A rainbow in a window in Brooklyn Heights honoring
essential workers. Photo by Kevin Duggan
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